Uwazi

Police in Hong Kong on Friday arrested the head of a rights group that organized candlelight vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre for three decades, for "publicizing" the now-banned event.

Chow Hang-tung, who heads the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, was one of two people arrested for calling on others to join a banned vigil for the victims of the 1989 crackdown, when People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops mowed down mostly unarmed civilians with machine guns and tanks, ending weeks of peaceful protest on Tiananmen Square.

A 20-year-old food delivery worker was also arrested.

The pair were accused of publicizing the vigil, which has been banned by the authorities for two years running, on social media, detective senior superintendent Terry Law told reporters, but declined to give specific details.

Chow's arrest came after she told RFA she personally planned to go to Victoria Park on Friday and light a candle to remember those who died in 1989.

"I think lighting candles in Victoria Park shows that we haven't given up," she added.

While Victoria Park remained empty of mourners and protesters, police gathered instead in large numbers on the park's soccer pitches on Friday, throwing several layers of security around the area.

Local media said up to 7,000 officers were being deployed in case anyone tried to defy the ban.

Some people left flowers and candles at the feet of the Goddess of Democracy statue on the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) campus, while artists laid white mourning flowers in a road in the Causeway Bay shopping district to mark the 32nd anniversary of the massacre.

Police have warned that anyone dressed in black, or anyone seen chanting slogans or lighting candles could be seen as breaking the ban.

Support for allies grows

Former pollster Robert Chung said the numbers of police were "overwhelming and unnecessary."

"It is more likely to spark a backlash and push people away from any sense of patriotism," Chung said.

Chung Kim-wah of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) said Chow's arrest suggested the authorities are beginning to act in a more arbitrary manner.

CUHK student activist Yuen Tak-chi said he would mark the massacre anniversary this year despite boycotting it in previous years because he believed Hong Kong's political struggles to be distinct from those of mainland China.

But he said that, since the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong from July 1, 2020, the city's concerns are now closely aligned with the mainland Chinese democracy movement.

"We used to despise the June 4th vigil at Victoria Park. We thought it was pointless," Yuen said. "How could [the official verdict on the 1989 protests] ever be overturned?"

"But this form of resistance we despised in the past has now become a red line under the national security law," Yuen said.

He said the sacrifices made by mainland Chinese rights lawyers, some of whom lost their licenses for speaking out on behalf of the 12 Hong Kong activists detained and later jailed in Shenzhen, had made many in Hong Kong realize that they are all on the same side in the struggle against authoritarian government.

"To mourn the victims of June 4 is to show support and respect for our allies, [China's] human rights lawyers," he said.

A Chinese human rights activist was reportedly lured from his home and detained by police on Friday, in a sign of a more severe environment for political dissidents in the run-up to the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party.

Wang Aizhong received a phone call on Friday from someone who claimed his car had been damaged, Chinese human rights blog Weiquanwang reported. When he left home to check on the vehicle, police took him away.

Up to nine police officers then presented a warrant to Wang’s wife and searched his home. They confiscated 29 books, two computers and a cell phone. Wang’s wife was later summoned to the local police station, where she was questioned about her husband’s contacts and remarks. Police reportedly warned her against speaking out.

A few weeks ago, public security officers prevented Wang from attending a dinner on May 5 with a group of entrepreneurs in Guangdong province. Police broke up the meal gathering and interrogated the attendees until the early hours of the following morning.

Wang is known for his involvement in the “Southern Street Movement,” a democracy reform movement originating in Guangdong. In May 2014, he was subjected to four weeks of administrative detention in the provincial capital city of Guangzhou on suspicion of “disorderly behavior.”

The activist has more than 39,000 followers on Twitter, which is officially banned in China, where the authorities frequently monitor dissidents’ accounts.

Authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan are holding prominent rights activist Huang Xiaomin under criminal detention for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Huang was detained on May 29 by police in his hometown, the provincial capital Chengdu, his friends said.

"I heard from a friend he called using the police phone that he had been detained, and that this time he was looking at a sentence of more than three years in prison," a friend of Huang's who gave only a surname Li told RFA on Wednesday.

"What he did for them to detain him isn't clear yet," Li said. "We don't understand it."

Li said Huang had been writing about vulnerable groups of people fighting for their rights on Mala -- an online forum on Sichuan-related matters.

Huang is a former teacher at a bingtuan CCP party school near Kashgar, in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

He took part in the student-led pro-democracy movement that ended in the massacre of unarmed civilians by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on June 4, 1989.

In 2019, the Jinniu District People's Court in Chengdu handed down a two-and-a-half year jail term Huang for supporting a call for direct elections to choose the leader of the CCP.

Huang pleaded guilty to "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charged based on interviews given by Huang to foreign media organizations including RFA, in which he allegedly "attacked the government."

He was earlier sentenced in 2010 by Sichuan's Leshan County People's Court to two years and six months in jail for "gathering a crowd to disrupt social order" for taking part in a street protest outside a court in February 2009.

Another friend of Huang's, Feng Gang, said his most recent detention was likely linked to his advocacy work for disadvantaged groups in Chengdu.

"He helped local human rights defenders and posted details of their cases online, especially to overseas websites, including Twitter and Facebook," Feng told RFA. "He also exposed local corruption and ... criticised the political and legal system."

He received a visit from local police after he gave an interview to RFA in November 2020 about CCP leader Xi Jinping's claim to have eliminated poverty in China.

"Huang has been a thorn in the sides of the local police in Chengdu," Feng said. "He has been detained around the 32nd anniversary of the June 4 crackdown, and ahead of the CCP centenary [on July 1], as part of the local stability maintenance plan."

Huang is also a member of the Independent Chinese PEN Association and one of the conveners of the Sichuan Pan-Blue Alliance, which is politically aligned with Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang (KMT).

A popular blogger in China was sentenced to eight months in prison on Monday for "defaming martyrs" after he suggested that the number of Chinese soldiers killed during last year's border clash with India was higher than the official count.

In February, well over six months after the clashes, the Chinese military said four of its soldiers were killed in a skirmish with Indian troops in the disputed Galwan Valley.

Qiu Ziming posted on China's Twitter-like social media platform Weibo saying that the actual death toll on the Chinese side might have been higher.

He also said that the commanding officer survived "because he was the highest-ranking officer there" — a remark that outraged Chinese officials.

Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed with iron rods, sticks, and stones last June in what was the deadliest clash between China and India in more than four decades.

New Delhi said Chinese troops had intruded into its side of the territory, triggering tensions. China had denied the transgression and accused Indian troops of provocative behavior. Timeline of Qiu's case

Qiu was arrested on February 20, a day after his Weibo post. He was subsequently charged under a new provision of China's criminal law that bans the "defamation of martyrs and heroes."

The 38-year old was also ordered to publicly apologize through national media outlets within 10 days.

"I feel extremely ashamed of myself, and I'm very sorry," he was quoted as saying by the state-run newspaper The Global Times.

A court in the eastern city of Nanjing on Monday ruled that Qiu had "infringed on the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs ... and confessed to his crimes." China's new provision

Qiu is the first person to be jailed under the new provision which came into effect in March.

In 2018, China's national legislature passed a law making "defamation of martyrs and heroes" a civil offense.

This was made a criminal offense in February and police have since arrested at least six bloggers for allegedly defaming the dead soldiers in online comments of Qiu's post.

The crackdown highlights the political sensitivity of the border clash in China.

Hong Kong police have arrested an elderly democracy activist as she made a solo demonstration over China's deadly Tiananmen crackdown in a vivid illustration of the zero protest tolerance now wielded by authorities in the financial hub.

Alexandra Wong, 65, was detained on Sunday on suspicion of taking part in an unlawful assembly as she walked towards Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong.

Wong -- known locally as "Grandma Wong" -- was a regular fixture of the huge democracy protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019.

She could often be seen waving a Union Jack flag, a symbol of her dissatisfaction with Beijing's rule since the city was handed to China by former colonial power Britain in 1997.

Protest is now all but outlawed in Hong Kong.

Authorities have used both the threat of the coronavirus and security concerns to ban demonstrations.

A vigil planned for this Friday -- the 32nd anniversary of Beijing's 1989 crackdown on democracy protests in Tiananmen Square -- has been denied permission for the second year in a row.

Authorities have cited the coronavirus, although Hong Kong is currently celebrating no local transmission cases of unknown origin for the last month.

Activists had also sought permission for a small Tiananmen-themed march on Sunday to the Liaison Office, which represents the central government in the city, but it was also denied permission.

Wong turned up anyway that afternoon holding as sign that read "32, June 4, Tiananmen's lament" and a yellow umbrella -- the latter a symbol of Hong Kong's democracy movement.

The South China Morning Post said the pensioner started chanting slogans in a park before heading towards the Liaison Office by herself, while being followed and filmed by police.

She was stopped twice.

"I'm only by myself, just an old lady here. Why stop me?" the Post quoted Wong as telling officers.

Soon afterwards she was arrested.

Police confirmed a 65-year-old woman surnamed Wong had been arrested for "knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly and attempting to incite others to join an unauthorized assembly."

Hong Kong's democracy movement has been crushed by a broad crackdown on dissent over the last year, including the imposition of a sweeping security law that criminalizes much dissent.

In the middle of the 2019 protests Wong disappeared for more than a year.

She resurfaced saying she had been detained by mainland authorities during a trip to Shenzhen, a neighboring city where she lived at the time.

On 2 June 2021, border control authorities at the Fuzhou airport prevented Beijing-based human rights lawyer Tang Jitian from boarding a flight to Japan to see his ill daughter. The authorities told the human rights defender that the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has imposed an exit ban on him because his travel abroad “may endanger national security”. Tang Jitian (唐吉田) is a Chinese human rights lawyer who has taken on human rights casesacross a range of areas, including land rights, freedom of religion, freedom of expression and freedom of association. As a result of his persistent activism, his license to practise law was revoked in 2010. The human rights defender continued his human rights work since his disbarment and has been subjected to beatings, torture, surveillance, travel restrictions, and arbitrary detentions on multiple occasions. In November 2017, he tried to enter Hong Kong from Shenzhen to seek medical treatment, but the mainland border control authorities told him he was not allowed to leave because he “may endanger national security”. Tang Jitian’s 25-year-old daughter, who has been studying in Japan, fell ill in April 2021 with tuberculosis and has since been hospitalised in an intensive care unit. She is said to be in serious condition due to multiple complications triggered by tuberculosis.After his daughter was hospitalised, Tang Jitian obtained a visa to travel to Japan and contacted public security officers in Beijing to seek the lifting of his exit ban. However, the officers he contacted said they were discussing the matter with their superiors and failed to give him a definitive answer despite repeated follow-up. On 1 June 2021, the human rights defender flew from Beijing to Fuzhou. On the morning of 2 June 2021, he checked in his luggage and obtained his boarding pass at the Fuzhou airport for his flight to Japan, but was stopped and turned back at the border control area. The border control officers told the human rights defender that he was prohibited from leaving the country on the basis of article 12(5) of the Exit and Entry Administration Law, which grants the authorities the power to impose exit bans on Chinese citizens if they “endanger national security”. The officers did not provide any legal documents or any detailed explanation as to why and how his departure would endanger national security. They also initially refused to disclose the officials who ordered the exit ban. After Tang Jitian insisted on knowing who issued the order, the officers said it was the Beijing Public Security Bureau, but refused to disclose the names of the officials who made the decision.Chinese authorities have a history of imposing arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement,including both domestic and international travel bans, as well as forced temporary relocation during politically sensitive periods, in order to target human rights defenders. These restrictions based on such ill-defined concepts as “endangering national security” are inconsistent with the Chinese Constitution, which prohibits unlawful deprivation or restriction of citizens’ freedom of the person,and are also incompatible with international human rights standards protecting the right to freedom of movement.

On 21 May 2021, the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate informed Ding Jiaxi's legal counsel that it has sent his case back to the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau for a second round of supplementary investigation. Under the Criminal Procedure Law, only two rounds of supplementary investigation are permitted. Once the supplementary investigation has concluded and the case is sent back to the Procuratorate, the Procuratorate must then decide whether or not to prosecute within a month. The Procuratorate may extend this deadline by another 15 days if a case is deemed "major or complicated" or if the sentence might exceed one year of imprisonment.

Earlier on 19 May 2021, Ding Jiaxi was allowed another video call with his legal counsel. Ding Jiaxi told his lawyer that detainees are permitted to partake in outdoor activities for less than 30 minutes a day and that their masks are changed only once every three weeks. Due to the low quality of dental hygiene provided by the detention centre, the condition of the human rights defender's teeth is deteriorating. Ding Jiaxi also said his eyesight has deteriorated, and he has still not been given any paper or pen to write with by authorities.

On 8 May 2021, immigration officers at the Shanghai Pudong Airport stopped human rights lawyer Lu Siwei from boarding his flight to the United States, where he is due to participate in a fellowship programme. The officers informed the human rights defender that an exit ban had been imposed against him on "national security" grounds.

Prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to 10 additional months in prison for taking part in an unauthorized assembly last year to commemorate the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

The 24-year-old Wong is already serving a 13-and-a-half-month sentence for organizing an unauthorized protest in 2019. He was sentenced Thursday along with fellow activists Lester Shum, Jannelle Leung and Tiffany Yeun, who received sentences of between four and six months.

Wong was also among 47 activists charged under Hong Kong’s sweeping national security law for taking part in unofficial primary elections last July to pick candidates to run in legislative elections. They were then postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

China has banned any public observance of the June 4, 1989 crackdown, when Chinese military tanks and troops raided Tiananmen Square to break up weeks of student-led protests. But Hong Kong traditionally held large vigils to mark the event under its Basic Law, which granted the city certain freedoms not allowed on the mainland, including the right to assembly.

Last year's event was banned for the first time, with police citing the pandemic and security fears following huge and often violent pro-democracy protests that engulfed the financial hub in the last half of 2019.

Hong Kong authorities have increasingly clamped down on the city’s pro-democracy forces since Beijing imposed the new national security law last June in response to the 2019 demonstrations.

Under the law, anyone in Hong Kong believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces could be tried and face life in prison if convicted.

It has been confirmed that the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate in Shandong province approved the formal arrest of woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu on 14 March 2021 for "inciting subversion of State power". She is currently detained at the Linyi Municipal Detention Centre. Her partner and fellow human rights defender Xu Zhiyong is also facing the same charge, and his case is also being overseen by the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau.

The Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau denied two requests made in February and March by Li Qiaochu's lawyer to visit the woman human rights defender, and also rejected the lawyer's bail applications.

In defence of her partner Xu Zhiyong's rights, Li Qiaochu previously challenged the actions of the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau by filing an administrative review in August 2020, initiating an administrative lawsuit in October 2020, and filing a formal complaint against Li Dengquan, the head of the Linyi Public Security Bureau in early February 2021, days before she was taken into custody.

In light of these complaints made by Li Qiaochu against the Linyi police prior to her detention, her lawyer argued that the Linyi police have a conflict of interest in the case that could undermine their ability to fairly handle the investigations. Subsequently, the lawyer submitted a formal request on 14 April 2021, for Li Dengquan and all other police officers at the Linyi Public Security Bureau to recuse themselves from this case, in line with articles 29 and 31 of the Criminal Procedure Law. Article 29 requires adjudicators, procurators and investigators to recuse themselves from a case if they have, among other factors, "an interest in the case" or have "another relationship with a party in the case that might affect the just handling of the case." The lawyer also contested the legitimacy of the Linyi police's jurisdiction and authority to investigate Li Qiaochu, who is a resident of Beijing and was still under provisional release pending investigation by the Beijing public security bureau at the time of her detention in February 2021.

On 19 April 2021, the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate rejected the lawyer's request for recusal on the basis that the reasons provided do not meet the conditions for recusal as stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law. The procuratorate did not provide further, more detailed legal reasoning for the decision. On 23 April 2021, the woman human rights defender's lawyer requested the Linyi procuratorate to review its decision on the recusal request.

In October 2020, woman human rights defender Liu Yanli was transferred to the Hankou Prison in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province to serve her four-year sentence, since which the prison authorities have not allowed her family to visit her. Liu Yanli's requests to phone her family have also been denied since the transfer.

In March 2021, a prison security official delivered a letter to Liu Yanli's family from her. In the letter, the woman human rights defender wrote that following the transfers to the prison, she had spent a month in quarantine, after which she spent a further month undergoing vocational training. Subsequently, she became a labourer at a prison factory and has been assigned to work as a porter. She wrote that she is exhausted from the physical exertion, and that her hair has gone grey. Her family are concerned for her physical and psychological health and well being.

On the morning of 7 April 2021, the lawyer retained by Liu Yanli's family met her at the Hankou Prison. The prison guards restricted them from speaking about anything other than her appeal, prohibiting them from discussing the prison conditions. In the afternoon, the Jingmen Municipal Intermediate Court held a hearing to review Liu Yanli's second appeal of her conviction. The defender's older sister, older brother and the family lawyer attended, but the court did not allow Liu Yanli to be present. No other observers were allowed to attend the hearing, which lasted 1.5 hours. The court is yet to announce its decision in the case.

During the weekend of 23 April 2021, a judge informed the family of human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei that their trial, originally scheduled to start on 26 April 2021, had been postponed a second time until after the Labour Day holiday in May. The court did not provide a new date.

On 21 January 2021, lawyers assigned by the authorities to represent human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei informed their families that the Beijing Chaoyang District Court has postponed the deadline for holding a trial to 29 April 2021, citing the pandemic as a reason. The previous deadline for holding the trial of the two human rights defenders was 29 January 2021.

The families of the human rights defenders have questioned the validity of the pandemic as a reason for postponement. According to the official website of the Beijing judiciary, at least eight public trials are scheduled to take place at the Chaoyang District Court between 25 January and 2 February 2021, and many more public trials in other courts in Beijing between 22 January and 22 February 2021.

On 22 September 2020, a lawyer assigned by the Chinese Government to represent human rights defender Chen Mei informed Chen's mother that he and fellow human rights defender Cai Wei have been indicted and their case has been sent for trial to the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing.

Since their detention in April 2020, Chen Mei and Cai Wei have not been allowed access to the legal counsel chosen by their families. Instead, the Government claimed that both defenders have "voluntarily" sought and received legal representation through the State legal aid programme.

Chen Mei's family have submitted a complaint to the Chaoyang District Judicial Bureau against the law firm to which Chen Mei's two Government-assigned lawyers belong, contending that they have violated laws and regulations governing the conduct of lawyers by representing clients who do not need legal aid and whose families have expressly rejected their representation.

Beijing has shut down several feminist social media platforms, a sign that China is renewing its crackdown on what it considers radical women’s groups.

About 10 feminist forums were closed on Douban, China’s popular social networking platform that allows group discussions of books, music, movies and social topics such as feminism.

Douban said the now-banned forums promoted “extreme” and “radical” political views and ideology.

The blocked forums embrace the concept of 6B4T, an online movement that originated in South Korea. The concept “is driven by the idea of women becoming more empowered by shunning activities seen as centered upon or designed to benefit men,” according to Jane Li, a China tech reporter on Quartz.

The Douban ban earlier this month sparked heated debate among netizens in China, soon after the government released preliminary figures suggesting 2020 was, like 2019, a year with a declining birthrate.

On Weibo, the Chinese social media platform akin to Twitter, one post said, “Well done! The intention of these forums is to tear up Chinese society through extreme feminism.” Another said, “6B4T is not radical. It’s nothing more than a claim that women do not have to enter into a heterosexual relationship.”

The “6B” refers to not having sex with men; not having romantic relationships; not marrying; not having children; not buying products that show a prejudice against, aversion to or dislike of women; and offering to stand by other single women, according to Li. The “4T” stands for “ditching rigid beauty standards [literally 'taking off corsets']; rejecting the obsession with Japanese manga and anime (known as otaku culture) for their hypersexual depictions of women; breaking away from religion; and not partaking in fan culture around male or female celebrities.”

In Korean, each of the items begins with either “bi,” which means no or not, and “tal,” which means to escape from something.

The South Korean movement "advocates that women separate themselves from the influence of male-centered political culture, and then form a full range of female culture and female power," according to the website WhatsonWeibo.

In the past, China has allowed more online discussion of gender than other political topics. Yet, Lu Pin, a prominent Chinese feminist in New York, told VOA Mandarin that with the current crackdown, there are virtually no social media platforms that are friendly to feminist groups in China.

“These online platforms are aware of the government’s preference, so they tend to restrict feminist movements,” she told VOA.

This is not the first targeting of women’s groups. Online feminists attracted Beijing’s attention on March 7, the day before International Women’s Day, when five feminist activists were arrested for demonstrating against sexual harassment on public transit.

At the time, Feng Yuan, a women’s rights activist, told TheGuardian.com: “What the activists want is exactly what state policy on women says: that women should be equal.”

Chinese netizens criticized the arrests, which drew international attention from the likes of then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The women, who became known as the Feminist Five, were released after more than a month in detention.

The current crackdown came about because increasing numbers of women are embracing feminist ideas, according to Zhang, a student from prestigious Peking University, who asked that her full name not be used for fear of attracting official attention.

“I think China has always been a patriarchal society. So, there can be a feminist movement, but it needs to be within that framework of patriarchal society,” she said.

Lu Pin, the New York feminist, agreed, saying the feminist movement has spotlighted a structural problem in Chinese society that causes inequalities between men and women, and those who benefit from the current system are offended by that explanation.

Shuttering online feminist discussions meshes with Beijing’s interests, she said.

“Of course, the government does not want criticism on the structure of its society,” she told VOA. “So, from this standpoint of view, the government will inevitably stand against the feminist movement. They want women to maintain their traditional family roles because that benefits the stability of the CCP rule.”

The crackdown comes just two months after China’s Ministry of Public Security released preliminary population numbers revealing that the number of new birth registrations in 2020 was 10.035 million, compared with 11.8 million in 2019, a year that had the lowest recorded birthrate since 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded.

With a rapidly growing elderly population and a cohort of young couples who cannot afford the luxury of children, China is facing a demographic crisis with economic overtones.

The government has long undercut efforts by activists to create safe space for women and raise issues of gender discrimination and domestic violence.

Despite these pressures working against gender equality, Chinese American author and activist Leta Hong Fincher said a popular broad-based feminist movement poses the greatest challenge to China’s governing regime today.

In her new book Betraying Big Brother, The Feminist Awakening in China, she said the Feminist Five gave life to a grassroots mobilization not seen since the 1989 pro-democracy movement that culminated with the deadly quashing of protests in Tiananmen Square.

Shen Hsiu-hua, an associate professor of sociology at National Tsing-Hua University in Taiwan, told VOA Mandarin that popular movements are Beijing’s greatest fear.

“Being able to mobilize people is a taboo for the Chinese Communist Party. In China, only the government can mobilize people, so any cause that results in gathering is seen as a threat to its ruling,” she said. “That’s why the government wants to nip it in the bud.”

Authorities at a second Hong Kong university have cut ties with the student union, saying that it had become a “platform for political propaganda” following its involvement in recent protest movements.

“The Hong Kong University Students’ Union (HKUSU) has become increasingly politicized in recent years, utilizing the University campus as a platform for its political propaganda,” the University of Hong Kong said in a statement on Friday.

“It has repeatedly made inflammatory and potentially unlawful public statements and unfounded allegations against the University,” it said.

“The university strongly condemns HKUSU’s radical acts and remarks,” the statement said.

It said the university would stop collecting membership fees on behalf of HKUSU and would “enforce its management rights” over the facilities currently used by the union.

“The University may also take further actions, if necessary,” it said, citing the need to protect “national security.”

A draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the ruling Chinese Communist Party from July 1, 2020, has targeted dozens of pro-democracy politicians and activists for “subversion” after they organized a primary election in a bid to win more seats in the city’s legislature.

The law bans words and deeds deemed subversive or secessionist, or any activities linked to overseas groups, as “collusion with foreign powers,” including public criticism of the Hong Kong government and the Chinese Communist Party.

Students oppose appointments

The HKU announcement comes after the union strongly opposed the appointment of two mainland Chinese scholars as vice presidents, saying that they would help to assert Chinese Communist Party control over the city’s oldest university.

Max Shen, who has previously been listed as a member of a Chinese Communist Party committee at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, and his former Tsinghua colleague Gong Peng started their jobs as vice presidents of research and academic development respectively from January 2021.

The severing of ties with the union comes after an article in the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, denounced HKUSU for smearing the government’s attempts to win public support for the national security law.

It called for “strong medicine to remove the malignant tumor in the ivory tower.”

Labour Party chairman and former HKUSU president Steven Kwok said the university’s action against the union appeared to have been triggered by the People’s Daily article.

“I think their actions were instigated by [authorities in] mainland China,” Kwok told Radio Free Asia. “It’s all part of the current political situation and carrying out Beijing’s wishes.”

The Chinese University of Hong Kong severed ties with its student union Syzygia on Feb. 26, banning the union from using university facilities or staff and accusing it of failing to clarify “potentially unlawful statements and false allegations.”

‘Getting rid of anything risky’

Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said universities have been tripping over themselves to demonstrate loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party since the national security law took effect.

“They are minimizing their risk by getting rid of anything risky,” Lau said. “This is an active form of adaptation to the politicization process being instigated by mainland China.”

He said the recent moves by the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong show the ever-widening damage to freedom of speech and academic freedom in Hong Kong.

“The university management are the ones damaging HKU’s rankings and reputation, not the students,” Lau said, referring to the University of Hong Kong.

Former student activist Joshua Wong — currently serving a prison sentence on public order charges linked to the 2019 protest movement — pleaded guilty in a Hong Kong court on Friday to “taking part in an illegal assembly” in connection with a vigil commemorating the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre in Victoria Park last year.

Wong, together with pro-democracy district councilors Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen, and Jannelle Leung, pleaded guilty to the charges, with sentencing expected on May 6.

Wong, Shum, and Yuen also face “subversion” charges under the national security law after they took part in the democratic primary for the canceled Legislative Council election in 2020. All three were returned to custody following the hearing.

Several longtime pro-democracy advocates on Friday learned their fate for organizing one of Hong Kong's largest-ever street protests during the height of anti-government demonstrations.

Nine pro-democracy activists, including media mogul Jimmy Lai, 73, and former lawmakers Lee Cheuk-yan, 64, Leung Kwok-hung, 65, Cyd Ho, 66, and Au Nok-hin, 33, were jailed after being found guilty this month of involvement in an August 2019 march that attracted hundreds of thousands of protesters.

District Judge Amanda Woodcock of Hong Kong's West Kowloon Magistrates Court also suspended sentencing for four other activists because of their age and accomplishments, according to The Associated Press.

Lai, who was additionally charged under the national security law on Friday for the second time and now faces six charges total, received 14 months in jail, as did activist Lee Cheuk-yan, after they had both pleaded guilty of organizing and participating in the rally on August 19, 2019, and of participating in another illegal assembly less than two weeks later.

Not surprised

Former Legislative Council lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan had expected Friday's outcome. When speaking with VOA in March about Beijing's electoral reforms for Hong Kong, he admitted that he, with four outstanding trials for illegal assembly looming over him, was likely to face jail.

"I think is important not to lose hope and always to do something to 'light a candle in darkness' so people can see the hope and see a lot of people doing different things in the society that show we are holding on to our values," he said. "It is important we hold on.

"If I go to the jail, I think it will be a good time to reflect on my life experience," he told VOA in an audio call.

Ho and Au received eight and 10 months behind bars, respectively, while Leung received the stiffest sentence, 18 months. Au and Leung were already in custody in relation to other cases.

The four remaining activists — "father of democracy" Martin Lee, 82, Margaret Ng, 73, Albert Ho, 69, and Leung Yiu-chung, 67 — received suspended sentences.

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Emily Lau, who was at the court for the sentencing, told VOA that it was a "very, very bad day for Hong Kong."

"So many people who have fought for democracy and human rights and rule of law for so many years have been given such heavy jail sentences for engaging in peaceful and nonviolent protests," she said. "It's very, very sad. But we know everybody, including judges and the government, are under a lot of pressure from Beijing, and they really want to teach Hong Kong people a lesson."

Lau said the length of sentences didn't come as a surprise, as they were notably longer than they had been for activists charged with illegal assembly.

"We know times have changed," said Lau. "Beijing is breathing down on us very heavily, and everybody feels the pressure."

Under the "one country, two systems" agreement signed by Britain and China in 1997 after the city was transferred back to Chinese rule, Beijing promised that Hong Kong would retain a "high degree of autonomy" until 2047.

A controversial extradition bill sparked Hong Kong's monthslong anti-government protests in 2019 that often turned violent. In response, Beijing implemented the national security law for Hong Kong, prohibiting secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

Dozens jailed

Since the security legislation came into force, dozens of activists have been jailed while others are awaiting trial or have fled the city. To limit the election of pro-democracy opposition, China's national legislature recently approved a major electoral overhaul for Hong Kong's political system, expanding the number of pro-Beijing voices on Hong Kong's Legislative Council.

Veteran political analyst Joseph Cheng believes the crackdown is meant to "eliminate" the pro-democracy movement.

"These arrests and court cases plus the changes, the so-called 'perfection of the electoral laws,' actually means there is no room for the operation for a pro-democracy movement, meaning there is no tolerance in Hong Kong," he said.

Cheng admitted the scrutiny could spell the end for the veteran activists, but there are now hopes for a younger generation to take the lead.

"You may say the older generation of activists, they probably will no longer be active given their age and given the tremendously difficult situation in the two, three years ahead," Cheng told VOA. "In this way, it is the end of their participation among the first generation like Martin Lee, Lee Cheuk-yan and so on. We certainly pin our hopes on the younger generation."

But for Hong Kong's younger activists, the risks are greater than ever. Yat-Chin Wong, 19, organizer of pro-democracy political group StudentPoliticism, told VOA that "now even just a few words [and you] may be arrested."

"The current red line is erratic, and there is no good way to avoid risks," he said.

Wong, who spent his childhood in China before moving to Hong Kong while in primary school, told VOA in January that national security officers had warned him about his activism in the city, while mainland Chinese authorities had questioned his relatives in Sichuan province.

The family of jailed rights activist Guo Hongwei, who died on April 9 after surgery while serving a 13-year jail term in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin, say there are many unanswered questions around his illness and death.

"We are not convinced," Guo's father Guo Yinqi told RFA on Tuesday. "He mustn't be cremated until the cause of death is known."

"There needs to be due process and [the cause of death] must be identified."

Guo Yinqi said the family had wanted to take pictures of Guo Hongwei's body when they went to identify it.

"We wanted to take pictures of him ... after his death, but a number of prison guards were there, and they wouldn't let us," he said.

Guo Yinqi said the family had doubts around the refusal of prison authorities to order medical parole for Guo despite his systolic blood pressure readings of around 260 consistently during the last two years.

"He was persecuted [to death]," Guo Yinqi said. "Not allowing a critically ill patient with systolic blood pressure of 260 out on medical parole is the same as killing them."

Guo Yinqi said Guo Hongwei had been transferred to Gongzhuling Prison after the family reported that he was being tortured at Songyuan Prison near Jilin's Siwei city.

"We weren't allowed to see him after the transfer to Gongzhuling Prison, and we couldn't have phone calls with him either," Guo Yinqi said. "And after being transferred to Gongzhuling Prison, he will not be allowed to meet. , And phone calls are not allowed. We wanted to take pictures when we were in the funeral after death. Several prison guards were there and were not allowed to take pictures."

Guo Hongwei died on April 9 after undergoing two operations for cerebral hemorrhage on April 4 and 5.

Guo Yinqi said that, while there was no indication of external, physical attacks on his son's body, the family wanted a full investigation into his death to establish responsibility.

"We have suspicions, because the issue that killed him was in his brain, and they won't release his [remains] to us, nor the scans [of his brain]," he said.

"They say this has to be dealt with in a 'unified' manner, and so it can't be handed over the family," Guo Yinqi said.

Autopsy demand Rights lawyer Xie Yanyi said he plans to assist the family in demanding an autopsy and inquest into Guo Hongwei's death.

"Further investigation is needed, as well as the issue of the autopsy, and gaining access to video surveillance footage and medical records," Xie told RFA.

"Prisons have obligations to cooperate under the Criminal Procedure Law and the Prisons Law," he said. "Guo Hongwei should have been granted medical parole for his own protection once his health had deteriorated to that point."

The family has said Guo was torture and held in solitary confinement in a tiny cell with no light or toilet facility during much of his time at Songyuan Ningjiang Prison in Jilin.

In May 2020, prison guard Lu Jiaxun locked him in a cell filled with peracetic acid, causing him choke, they said, yet the guard only received a small deduction from his bonus as punishment.

Guo Yinqi filed a complaint to the Jilin provincial prison administration bureau at the time of that incident, but has yet to receive a response.

Guo was transferred to Gongzhuling Prison on Nov. 26, where he was held incommunicado, with authorities citing pandemic restrictions as the reason for the ban on visits. However, phone calls weren't permitted either.

When he was finally admitted to the Jilin Guowen Hospital in early April, police told one of the surgeons operating on him that he had been in a similar condition for more than two months. He was already in a coma at the time of admission, they told RFA.

Guo Hongwei's mother Xiao Yunling said Guo had once been a strong and well-built man of 1.73 meters who had never been troubled by illness.

Whatever treatment was meted out to him in prison left him unable to walk and with life-threatening hypertension.

"Rest easy, son. Mom will avenge you," Xiao said. "Why did they frame my son? I won't be able to rest another day until I find out."

"Why did he have a cerebral hemorrhage? This happened all of a sudden in April," she said. "Why was he so skinny? Why didn't they give my son more food?"

Botched surgery Fellow rights activist Wang Jing said hospitals often botch operations on political prisoners, using them as teaching cases for inexperienced surgeons.

"I was almost killed during my medical appraisal and outpatient consultation. I was admitted to hospital, and four people on that ward died one after the other," Wang said.

One of them was a detained member of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, Wang said. "One was a Falun Gong practitioner who had a fracture in his arm, and he lost the use of his arm entirely after the operation."

"The government hates political prisoners," Wang said. "It's much easier for them to take their lives through medical malpractice; we are just like meat on a chopping board."

Guo lost his job at the Songdianhe Power Plant and was jailed for five years after he reported Xu Wengui, an official at the local state prosecutor's office, for embezzling state funds.

He served a five-year jail term, and continued his human rights activism and petitioning activities on his release.

He was already unable to walk by the time of his second jail term, begun in 2016, for "extortion" and "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," after he pursued rights cases and petitions, and expressed public support for the 2014 pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.

His mother has served a six-year jail term, while his sister Guo Hongying is still serving a five-and-a-half year jail term, both on similar charges that include "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

"Three members of our family have been sent to jail for trying to protect state assets," Guo Yinqi said. "Marriages have broken up and the family has been destroyed."

"The prosecution services and law enforcement in Jilin province are all in it together; they all protect each other, and they ganged up on our family," he said. "Lawyers are too afraid to take our case because they could lose their livelihoods."

Guo Hongwei's defense attorney Huang Hanzhong told RFA that the family had instead been held up as a disgrace by CCP-controlled media, for allegedly "extorting" money from local government.

"This case was a total fabrication, a travesty of justice," Huang said. "This so-called 300,000 yuan they were supposed to have extorted, and all they got out of it was a severely hypertensive patient who couldn't even walk."

"How is he supposed to have extorted money from more than 5,000 police officers? It's a joke."

Gangkye Drubpa Kyab, a writer and former political prisoner also called Gangme Thak, was arrested in Sertha on March 23, Jigme said, adding, “Kyab had not committed any crime, and the Chinese government has not shown any valid reason for his arrest.”

Political activist Gangbu Yudrum was taken into custody on March 22, with no reason given for his arrest, Jigme said.

Yudrum had previously served a three-year prison term beginning in 2008 for his role in a protest in which he raised the banned Tibetan national flag and called for the return to Tibet of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

He was arrested again in 2012 and released in 2014, receiving a warm welcome from people in his village, who hailed him as a “Tibetan fighter for the truth.” Upon his release, he wrote and distributed copies of a letter to local Tibetans urging them to work to free Tibet from Beijing’s rule.

Two of the six recently detained Tibetans have not yet been identified, and the whereabouts of all six are still unknown, Jigme said.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against China’s rule.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Chinese police in Sichuan’s Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture have arrested six Tibetans considered prominent in their communities in recent weeks, with the reasons for their arrests unknown, a Tibetan living in exile said Wednesday.

Writer and environmental activist Sey Nam was taken into custody on April 2 in Kardze’s (in Chinese, Ganzi’s) Serthar (Seda) county, Golok Jigme, a former political prisoner now living in Switzerland, told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing local contacts.

“Due to tightened restrictions on communications in the area, my source doesn’t know the reason for his arrest,” Jigme said.

Also arrested on April 2, Tibetan activist and former political prisoner Tsering Dolma had been detained at least twice before in 2008 and 2012 after she took part in protests against Chinese policies and rule in Tibetan areas.

“I think this was the third or fourth time she was arrested,” Jigme said.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against China’s rule.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Bao Choy Yuk Ling, a freelance producer with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), was convicted on April 22 of “making false statements” to obtain government data for her investigative report. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns Hong Kong authorities’ use of legal action to target members of the press.

Choy was charged with two counts of “knowingly making a false statement” to obtain car license plate records from the government’s database. The 37-year-old was fined HKD $6,000 (USD $773) on April 22 for the offenses to which she pleaded not guilty.

The data was used for an episode of RTHK’s documentary programme, Hong Kong Conncetion, that exposes the Hong Kong police’s delayed response to a mob attack on pro-democracy protesters and civilians in Yuen Long, Hong Kong on July 21, 2019.

The prosecution of Choy has shocked Hong Kong media, as it had been a common practice for journalists to obtain government data when reporting.

The court, however, determined on April 22 that Choy had used the data for her report instead of the “traffic and transport related purposes” justification that Choy provided to authorities for permission to access the data and was therefore punishable.

The Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA) and seven other media groups and trade unions have issued a joint statement to express their indignation. The statement also warned that legal attack on freedom of the press sends a chilling effect in Hong Kong’s media.

On 16 April 2021, detained human rights lawyer Chang Weiping's family received a written notice from the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau to say that the human rights defender was formally arrested on 7 April 2021 on the charge of "subversion of State power". Prior to the formal arrest, Chang Weiping was detained under "residential surveillance in a designated location" (RSDL) for the lesser charge of "inciting subversion of State power". Under China's Criminal Law, those convicted of "subverting State power" may face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Under the Criminal Procedure Law, the Baoji public security authorities must complete their investigation within two months and then make a decision whether to recommend prosecution or drop the case. With the approval of a higher-level procuratorate, this investigative period is extendable by up to five months if certain broadly defined conditions are met, such as if the case is deemed to be "particularly serious and complicated".

A court in the central Chinese province of Henan has handed down a 14-month jail term to performance artist and online influencer Chen Shaotian after he posted a number of critical comments about life under the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Twitter.

Chen was sentenced to one year and two months' imprisonment by the Fugou County People's Court in Henan, which found him guilty of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target critics of the regime.

Chen's sentence, which was issued on March 25, was based on more than 50 posts he made to Twitter that were deemed to be "hype about major sensitive events in China" and "political attacks."

One video still visible on Twitter shows him astride a moped, speeding down a road wearing a face-mask blazoned with the words "evil" and "understand," and yelling: "Understand this! Our evil government is far worse than any virus, for f*ck's sake!"

Chen's tweets had "attacked China's political system, insulted employees of the state, caused serious damage to China's national image and endangered its national interests," as well as "creating serious disorder in a public place," the court judgment said.

Dissident activist Ji Feng said Chen isn't a dissident in the strict sense, as he doesn't advocate any political or philosophical alternative to CCP rule.

"He lacks a systematic politics, and he has no deeply held position," Ji said. "It's all about dissatisfaction with the current reality."

He said Chen's jailing would likely have a chilling effect on people who feel the same way.

"There are many, many people like him, and eventually, they will probably be too scared to speak out any more," he said.

Hebei-based lawyer Pan Shaomin said Chen had become an online celebrity precisely because his posts exuded a general and profound sense of dissatisfaction.

"The social topics he cares about were very popular with the general public," Ji said. "He cursed the way things are in a funny way, and made people laugh and feel happier."

"That was how he became a celebrity, but that phenomenon is going to cause fear in certain quarters," he said.

Chen, originally a long-haul truck-driver, first started cursing out the government after travel bans and rural roadblocks at the start of the pandemic left him unable to do his job.

He was banned from social media platforms including WeChat and Douyin after his videos on the death of whistleblowing Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang went viral.

"What [Chen] was doing was anathema to the authorities, who shut down his China-based social media accounts," Pan said.

In December 2020, authorities in the Beijing district of Haidian jailed Li Guibao, who was known online as Fat Pig Full Circle Lao Li, to one year's imprisonment for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" after he criticized the authorities handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Li was detained two days after posting a 7,000-word article on April 9, 2020, in which he mostly talked about government's handling of the pandemic.

He was tried on Dec. 3, 2020 and sentenced on Dec. 24, 2020.

Seven of Hong Kong’s prominent pro-democracy activists were found guilty Thursday of organizing and participating in an unlawful assembly during the 2019 anti-government demonstrations.

The activists include media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Day, and 82-year-old barrister Martin Lee, one of the founders of the opposition Democratic Party. Also convicted Thursday were lawyer Albert Ho, barrister Margaret Ng, labor rights activist Lee Cheuk-yan and former legislators Cyd Ho and Leung Kwok-hung.

Two other defendants had already pleaded guilty. The seven face up to five years in prison.

The seven were arrested last year for taking part in a protest on Aug. 18, 2019, that drew more than 1 million people, one of the largest that engulfed Hong Kong that year which involved violent clashes between protesters and police. The protests were triggered by a controversial extradition bill that evolved into a greater demand for greater freedoms for the financial hub, which had been granted an unusual amount of freedom when Britain handed over control in 1997.

The demonstrations spurred Beijing to impose a series of measures aimed at quashing Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, including a new national security under which anyone suspected of carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces could be tried and face life in prison.

China’s national legislature approved a set of changes to Hong Kong’s electoral process to ensure only pro-Beijing loyalists can serve in the city’s legislature.

The Chinese government must immediately release labor organizer, delivery worker, Chen Guojiang (陈国江), who was detained on February 25 in Beijing. Chen, a popular social media activist, had frequently posted about the precarious working conditions of frontline delivery workers in Chinese cities and had recently called for delivery workers to boycott companies that allegedly withheld some bonus money for workers who could not meet high demand targets during the Chinese New Year period.

A few other workers are said to be detained as well, but no detailed information is available at this point.

Chen Guojiang, also known as “Xiong Yan” and “Chen Tianhe”, is a former restaurant owner who became a motorbike delivery worker in 2019 after his restaurant business went under. Chen was appalled at the working conditions in the sector, and he became one of the founders of a WeChat group called “Alliance for Delivery Workers on Motorbikes in the Land of Lawlessness” (外送江湖骑士联盟) *, which was dedicated to connecting, organizing, and providing rights defense to delivery workers. Chen frequently spoke out on Weibo about the precarious labor conditions of delivery workers and made videos, in an effort to garner support from the general public.

Some supporters in China attribute Chen’s detention to the fact that his WeChat group has attracted over 10,000 followers, and he had become a de facto union-like leader for China’s roughly 7-10 million delivery workers, who played an essential role in providing essential services, especially during the COVID-19 lockdowns. According to Radio Free Asia, members from Chen’s WeChat group had planned to stage a strike in solidarity with Chen on March 8, but police took preemptive actions that the plan did not come to fruition.

Chen is believed to be detained at the Beijing City Chaoyang Detention Center. Chen’s father, Chen Wanhua, put out an open letter expressing concerns for his son, saying he still had no information about the police’s accusation against his son and he had not yet received a detention notice, which should be sent to family members within 24 hours of detention according to the Criminal Procedure Law. Chen’s sister, however, called the Chaoyang detention center, and the police claimed that they had mailed out the detention notice. Chen’s father, as a farmer making only 600 RMB per month, also hoped to raise 50,000 RMB for lawyers’ fees.

In recent years, China’s “platform economy”, including food delivery services, has taken on new importance to both the Chinese public and the Communist Party leadership. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many restaurants were closed and cities were on lockdown, food delivery orders surged, and delivery workers became indispensable to the basic functioning of Chinese society. Delivery workers have been widely lauded on social media for their heroism in performing tasks that epitomized the “essential worker.” This week, the Chinese President Xi Jinping underlined the importance of the platform economy, including the need for the government to “…fill shortcomings, strengthen weaknesses, create an innovative environment, solve outstanding contradictions and problems, and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy”. Media outlets have also run in depth articles exploring the extraordinary pressures on delivery workers.

Despite this newfound social and political attention, China’s gig workers have few labor rights protections, and workplace problems are common, with at least seven strikes or protests by delivery workers since January 2020, according to China Labour Bulletin’s Strike Map. Workers have frequently complained of problems including long hours, uncertain pay scale, employer surveillance, and arbitrary deduction of wages or dismissals.

CHRD urges the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release Chen Guojiang. Pending his release, Chen should be allowed to see a lawyer of his choice and should be allowed contact with family members. The Chinese government should also ensure protection of freedom of association, expression, communicate, and the right to organize to protect their labor rights. The Chinese government should also immediately sign and ratify the International Labour Organization fundamental conventions: Convention 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention) and Convention 98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention).

On 8 March 2021, the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate in Shandong province informed Ding Jiaxi's lawyer that it has sent the human rights defender's case back to the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau for supplementary investigation. Under the Criminal Procedure Law, the public security bureau must complete supplementary investigation within a month, and only two rounds of supplementary investigation are permitted.

On March 8, following 10 days detention because of his tweet on Twitter, Luo Zhiming sent a text message to a close friend expressing concerns that he might become “missing” again. Returning home from his recent 10-day detention, Mr. Luo found that Chinese Communist Party agents had confiscated his computer, cell phone, and other possessions. As Mr. Luo, a construction worker, followed topics such as human rights, democracy, and freedom of religion and belief, he actively posted on Twitter and Facebook. Bazhong City State Security Branch officers had arrested Mr. Liu, an immigrant worker originally from Sichuan, for tweeting and commenting on posts that oppose the CCP's dogma. After CCP authorities released Mr. Luo from detention, State security officers in Tongjiang County had also tightened surveillance on him.One insider disclosed that CCP authorities may have held Mr. Luo under criminal detention while he abruptly became missing. Local state security officers regarded Mr. Luo’s speaking up during the "Two Sessions" as provoking the authorities. Consequently, they may have needed to make him a typical case or make an example out of him in Bazhong.

Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Yu, one of 14 women from around the world honored by the U.S. as an International Woman of Courage (IWOC), did not appear for the on-line award ceremony Monday and has been out of touch for two days, raising concerns, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"She has represented cases involving abused children, ethnic minorities, women, and religious adherents, and her work has brought government pressure on her through today," Blinken said at IWOC award ceremony.

"We have not been in regular communication over the past two days. We’re concerned because we know that she wanted to attend today’s ceremony. We’ll be following up and, if necessary, speaking out on her case," he added.

An activist close to Wang said she had tweeted plans to leave the southern city of Guangzhou on Saturday, but was held up for a COVID-19 check. Around noon on Sunday, however, she and her husband, Bao Longjun, were apprehended and taken away by police from Tianjin. Their whereabout is not known yet.

The friend confirmed that Wang knew about the State Department ceremony and wanted to attend.

The State Department had earlier noted on its website that Wang had been "one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers until her arrest and imprisonment following China’s nationwide persecution of lawyers and rights advocates during the [July 2015] crackdown" on human rights lawyers that saw hundreds rounded up and many later jailed or stripped of their licenses to practice.

"She had taken on multiple politically sensitive cases, representing activists, scholars, Falun Gong practitioners, farmers, and petitioners in cases involving a wide array of issues, including women’s and children’s rights, and the rights to religion, freedom of expression, assembly, and association," it said.

"She is now under an exit ban and has been harassed, threatened, searched, and physically assaulted by police since she began to take on rights abuse cases in 2011."

Despite ongoing harassment from the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Wang has continued to use her Twitter account to speak out on behalf of fellow attorneys and rights activists targeted by the authorities for their rights advocacy.

In late February, she retweeted a post from Xu Yan, wife of jailed rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, saying that her husband has yet to receive treatment for loss of function in his right hand and for the loss of teeth while in jail.

"The court ... did not consider the four complaints [about Yu's treatment in jail] and went right ahead and ruled to uphold the original judgement," Xu wrote in the tweet.

"The Jiangsu Higher People's Court wouldn't allow the defense attorney to review the case files."

'Exceptional courage, leadership'

The IWOC award recognizes women from around the world who have demonstrated "exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment," often at great personal cost.

"These women made an extraordinary choice: to persist. To demand justice," First Lady Jill Biden told the awards ceremony, which was livestreamed on YouTube on Monday.

"To believe that, despite the obstacles and fear that they faced, that there is a future worth fighting for," Biden said.

Wang and her legal activist husband Bao Longjun were detained in a massive nationwide crackdown on rights lawyers and activists in July 2015.

Their son Bao Zhuoxuan, also known by his nickname Bao Mengmeng, was just 16 when his passport was confiscated in the wake of his parents' arrest on the night of July 9, 2015 at the start of a nationwide police operation targeting the legal profession that became know as the "709 crackdown."

He had planned to complete his high school education overseas.

The teenager later tried to escape across the border from the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan into northern Myanmar with a couple of fellow activists posing as tourists, but was caught and the activists who tried to help him detained.

He eventually arrived in Australia to complete his studies in January 2018.

A rights activist in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong has called off her bid to stand in local elections for the next village chief after intimidation from the authorities, she told RFA.

Tian Ruidi, who has been active in helping residents of Shangdong village near Guangdong's Huizhou city defend their land rights, said she is now staying away from home amid a slew of threats and repeated interrogations by local police.

Her husband Tian Xinhua told RFA: "The village secretary asked her to withdraw from the election."

"People came from the police station and the city government, and told people not to vote for my wife," he said. "My wife refused [to withdraw], and now she is in hiding."

Local rights activist Chen Tian confirmed Tian's story.

"A lady whose surname is Tian is now being threatened by [government-backed thugs]," Chen said. "The local police station wants to arrest her, and she has gone into hiding."

"The local government sent large numbers of workers to the village to go from house to house, telling people that they shouldn't vote for her."

Tian has spoken out about the pressure being put on her online, posting a video clip of a Feb. 19 village committee meeting during which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) village secretary asked her to withdraw her candidacy.

"Secretary Zhang Xinhua asked me to withdraw from the village leader election qualification round," she said in that video. "This is an illegal act that undermines the election system and subverts the system of governance."

"He is illegally depriving citizens of their right to run for election," she said.

Tian's candidacy could potentially have toppled incumbent Tian Xinwu from the top job in the village of 300 residents, where 200 have the right to vote in local elections.

She has previously worked to expose local corruption linked to government compensation for land lost to development that was sent to the village, but never passed on to those eligible for it.

Voting went ahead on Tuesday, but another resident of Tianwu said villagers were unable to witness the ballot papers being counted on Wednesday.

"The general public wasn't allowed to get anywhere near the big screens in the hall," he said. "The police were blocking the doors and wouldn't let us through, although we had been allowed through on polling day."

Tianwu is the site of a long-running dispute between local officials and residents over rental income nearby Hualong quarry, which had been paid out to the registered lease-holders of the land used for the business.

Repeated calls to local CCP secretary Zhang Xinhua and incumbent village chief Tian Xinwu rang unanswered on Wednesday.

Chinese authorities must stop harassing formerly imprisoned journalist Lu Yuyu, founder of Not News, and allow him to live where he wishes and travel freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Chinese national security officers in Guangzhou city broke into Lu’s apartment today and forced him to leave the city, Lu told CPJ via a messaging app. Lu told CPJ that approximately eight officers in plainclothes and uniforms forced their way into his apartment and refused to show him their identifications. The officers asked Lu to deactivate his account on Twitter. “They said if I don’t shut up on Twitter, they would have to keep harassing me,” Lu said. When Lu told the officers that he had deleted most of the sensitive tweets, one officer said, “’It’s because you have clout. If you cancel your Twitter account, no one will harass you again,’” Lu told CPJ.

“It’s time for Chinese authorities to stop harassing journalist Lu Yuyu and let him get on with his life,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Lu has committed no crime and his continued abuse by Chinese authorities only exposes their lawless and arbitrary behavior.”

Lu was sentenced to four years in prison in 2017, after documenting demonstrations against land grabs, wage disputes, pollution, and alleged government corruption across the country on his blog Not News with another journalist, Li Tingyu. He suffered beatings in prison and has been repeatedly harassed since he was freed last year, as CPJ has reported.

Since Lu’s release from prison in June 2020, police have been tracking him wherever he goes and forcing him to relocate, as well as warning him to stop circumventing the country’s internet firewall, according to an interview he gave The Wall Street Journal in November. While Chinese diplomats often use the social media platform to carry out propaganda campaigns and defend Chinese Communist Party policies, Twitter is blocked in the country. Some Chinese citizens use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access it. In January, The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 50 people have been jailed for their posts on the platform.

Nearly every main voice of dissent in Hong Kong is now in jail or exile, after Hong Kong police charged 47 pro-democracy campaigners and politicians with conspiracy to commit subversion. All face life in prison if convicted.

The group comprises most of the 55 people arrested last month, over primary polls held last year, in a dawn raid that marked the single biggest operation conducted under the controversial and draconian national security law.

On Sunday, the police force said all but eight had been charged with a single count, and would be detained ahead of court mentions on Monday morning.

The European Union’s office in Hong Kong said the charges made clear that “legitimate political pluralism will no longer be tolerated in Hong Kong”, and called for the immediate release of the detainees. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accused authorities of using the national security law to silence critics, called for all charges to be dropped.

Those arrested include young campaigners, activists, and local councillors, as well as established politicians such as Claudia Mo, Eddie Chu Hoi-dick and Ray Chan. The activist and former politician Joshua Wong is already in jail, serving 13 months on protest-related charges.

The mass charge had been feared since the individuals were told on Friday to report to police a month earlier than previously instructed. Many began making preparations on the expectation they would be charged and denied bail, including spending time with family, arranging care for their pets, and buying comfortable clothes for prison.

Local media reported the Democratic party legislators James To and Roy Kwong, and the American lawyer John Clancey, were among the eight not charged on Sunday. Clancey told reporters his bail was extended to 4 May, and said Hong Kong was increasingly like living in a detention centre, “with the freedoms and rights of people being constrained more and more”. Speaking outside the police station before going inside, Jimmy Sham, a key organiser of the 2019 protests, said they would remain strong and continue fighting. “Democracy is never a gift from heaven. It must be earned by many with strong will,” he said. “We can tell the whole world, under the most painful system, Hon

Many of those charged left messages to their supporters on social media.

The charge is the first for Claudia Mo, 64, a former journalist and outspoken pro-democracy legislator who resigned with colleagues in protest last year. “I maybe physically feeble, but I’m mentally sturdy,” she wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

“No worries. We all love Hong Kong yah.”

Chu said he was grateful to the people of Hong Kong for the opportunity to contribute, and was “deeply honoured” to be charged over their common ideals.

The former legislator Kwok Ka-ki said: “Prisons can isolate us, but they cannot stop us from connecting with each other and taking care of each other; chains can lock our bodies but can’t hold our minds and souls!

“Stay calm and carry on. This too shall pass! Remember: it is not hope to hold on, it is persistence to have hope!”

The charges stem from unofficial primaries held last year by the pan-democrat camp in an attempt to find the strongest candidates to run in Hong Kong’s election and win a majority in the legislative council. The mass protest movement of 2019 and the brutal crackdown by authorities had driven greater support towards the pro-democracy side of politics, and in district council elections in late 2019 they won the vast majority of seats. More than 600,000 Hongkongers turned out to vote in the polls.

But at the time of the arrests, the Hong Kong security secretary, John Lee, told local media those arrested had aimed to “paralyse” the city’s government with their plan to win the election and block legislation. He referred to an earlier published editorial by the organiser of the primaries, the legal scholar Benny Tai, as evidence of a premeditated and “vicious” plan to “sink Hong Kong into an abyss”.

In an earlier social media post on Sunday, Tai wrote: “My chance of bail won’t be too great.”

The election was ultimately postponed for a year, ostensibly because of the pandemic. Since that time, the Beijing and Hong Kong governments have introduced numerous new impediments to opposition candidates winning, or even running in the elections. Last week, they announced rules requiring all politicians and candidates pledge an oath of loyalty to the rule of the Chinese Communist party and swear not to act against the government, or face disqualification.

Officials said the new laws would ensure that only “patriots” could govern Hong Kong, with one spelling out that patriotism meant loyalty to the Communist party.

The laws are the latest efforts by authorities to wipe out dissent in Hong Kong, using the sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing last June, with the blessing of the Hong Kong government. At least 99 people have been arrested under the law so far, which is broadly defined to outlaw acts of subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism.

A court in Hong Kong on Tuesday denied an application for bail from jailed democracy activists Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam pending their appeal against their sentence on charges related to "illegal assembly" during a mass siege of police headquarters on June 21, 2019.

Chow, who looked thinner and paler than in previous court appearances, wiped away tears in court as High Court judge Andrew Chan said he would be referring the case to the Court of Appeal, effectively denying the application for bail.

Some supporters shouted out encouragement to Chow, while Lam made the five-finger gesture of the 2019 pro-democracy movement representing five demands made by protesters, including fully democratic elections, an amnesty for jailed protesters, and accountability for police violence.

The hearing was also attended by outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen. Police officers cordoned off the area around the court entrance with traffic barriers, and journalists weren't allowed to get close enough to take photos.

Lawyers for Lam and Chow later said the pair will both serve out their sentences, with Lam due to be released in April and Chow in June.

Chow, 24, was sentenced to seven months' imprisonment in Dec. 2 after pleading guilty to charges relating to "illegal assembly."

She was taken after sentencing to the medium-security Lo Wu Correctional Institution near the border with mainland China, but was later transferred to the Tai Lam Women's Correctional Institution, a Category A facility.

Category A prisoners, of whom there are only a few hundred in a city of seven million, are often people who have been convicted of murder or drug trafficking.

Fellow activist and former 2014 student leader Joshua Wong, who co-founded the now-disbanded political party Demosisto with Chow, is also believed to have been placed in Category A.

Fellow activists Joshua Wong, 24, and Lam, 26, were jailed for 13-and-a-half-months and seven months respectively by the West Kowloon District Court on Dec. 2, 2020.

All three defendants pleaded guilty to charges of "inciting others to take part in an illegal assembly" and "taking part in an illegal assembly," and their sentences were reduced in recognition of the guilty plea.

Oaths of allegiance

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong authorities are gearing up to require sitting members of the District Council to take an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong.

Secretary for mainland and constitutional affairs Eric Tsang said politicians whose oaths were deemed "insincere" would be stripped of their seats on the council.

Pro-democracy candidates swept to a landslide victory in the last District Council elections in November 2019, which came after several months of mass protest over Hong Kong's vanishing freedoms.

"The law will fulfill the constitutional responsibility of the government," Tsang said.

"You cannot say that you are patriotic but you do not love the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party or you do not respect it - this does not make sense," Tsang added. "Patriotism is holistic love."

The move came a day after a top ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official in charge of Hong Kong said that only patriots should be allowed to hold public office.

Under the draft legislation, any district councilor who fails the loyalty test will be sent to court for formal disqualification, and banned from taking part in elections for five years.

Mass disqualifications

Political commentators have warned that the authorities are gearing up for the mass disqualification of opposition politicians from the council, who currently hold nearly 90 percent of seats.

Tsang said four district councilors -- Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen, Fergus Leung, and Tat Cheng -- have already been earmarked for disqualification.

“The returning officers at the time have already concluded that the four do not genuinely uphold the Basic Law. So theoretically speaking, they won’t be qualified to stay on as district councillors," Tsang told reporters in comments reported by government broadcaster RTHK.

A recent poll by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) found that several different measures of freedom in Hong Kong were at their lowest level since the handover.

Academic freedom, freedom of association, and freedom of movement all dropped to their lowest ebb in a survey carried out in early February 2021, while press freedom and freedom of speech also returned low scores.

HKPORI deputy chief executive Chung Kim-wah said the freedom of movement figure reflects people's concerns over growing entry and exit controls at Hong Kong's borders, particularly after China said it would no longer recognize the British National Overseas (BNO) passport.

"First they were talking about countermeasures and non-recognition, and then we had the announcement that the BNO wouldn't be accepted as a travel document any more," Chung told RFA. "There were also rumors that there would be restrictions on people trying to leave."

"Our survey conducted at the beginning of this month reflects people's feelings on the BNO [issue]," he said.

Following the imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong, the U.K. launched an immigration scheme for BNO passport-holders that offers a potential pathway to work, study, and eventual citizenship to around five million of Hong Kong's seven million residents, drawing Beijing's ire.

Crackdown on dissent, opposition

The CCP imposed the draconian National Security Law for Hong Kong on the city from July 1, 2020, ushering in a crackdown on peaceful dissent and political opposition.

The law was described as "one of the greatest threats to human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover" by legal experts at Georgetown University's Asian Law Center.

The report found that the authorities "have made vigorous use of the [law] over the past seven months, with over 100 arrests by the newly-created national security department in the Hong Kong police force."

"The vast majority of initial ... arrests would not be considered national security cases in other liberal constitutional jurisdictions," the report said.

It said there are "serious concerns" that the law is being used to suppress the basic political rights of Hong Kong residents.

"Prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights to free expression, association, or assembly ... violate Hong Kong and Beijing’s commitments under international human rights law," it said.